8A NEWS
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
WEDNESDAY, MARCH 26, 2008
WEDNESDAY, MARCH 26, 2008
MIDDLE EAST
Iraqi forces collide with Shiite
U.S.-protected area in Baghdad hit by rockets after fighting Tuesday
Iraqi police take defensive positions in Bara, Iraq, 550 kilometers (340 miles) southeast of Baghdad, Iraq, Tuesday. Iraqi forces clashed with Shite militias in the southern oil port of Bara on Tuesday as a security plan to clamp down on violence rival militia factions in the region began.
ASSOCIATED PRESS
ASSOCIATED PRESS
BAGHDAD — Iraqi forces clashed with Shiite militiamen Tuesday in the southern oil port of Basra and rockets rained down on the U.S.-protected Green Zone in Baghdad as followers of Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr expanded a nationwide backlash against government crackdowns.
The U.S. Embassy said no deaths or serious casualties were reported in the Green Zone attacks — the second major barrage this week launched from Shite areas. Two rockets landed on Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki's compound, but did not explode, an Iraqi government security official said, speaking on condition of anonymity because he wasn't authorized to disclose the information.
Al-Maliki was in Basra, where he is supervising the operation against the Shiite militia fighters. At least 25 people were killed in the Basra fighting, officials said.
The violence marked a stunning escalation in the confrontation between the Shiite-run government and al-Sadr's forces, who have bitterly complained about the recent arrests of hundreds of backers.
The clashes also threaten to reverse the security gains achieved by U.S. and Iraqi forces. The Bush administration has hailed the decline in violence as a key sign that Iraq is headed for better days.
Al-Sadr declared a unilateral cease-fire last August. That move — along with a U.S. troop buildup and a Sunni alliance with the American forces — has contributed to a steep drop in violence.
But the truce is now under serious pressure. AI-Sadr's allies have grown increasingly angry over U.S.
and Iraqi raids and detentions,
demanding the release of followers.
The cleric recently told his followers that the cease-fire remains in effect but that they were free to defend themselves against attacks.
Al-Sadr's headquarters in Najaf also ordered field commanders with his Mahdi Army militia to go on maximum alert and prepare "to strike the occupiers" — a term used to describe U.S. forces — and their Iraqi allies, a militia officer said. He declined to be identified because he wasn't supposed to release the information.
More than 2,000 supporters of al-Sadr danced through the streets with olive branches and copies of the Quran during demonstrations in Najaf, 100 miles south of Baghdad. Similar protests were held earlier in the day in Baghdad.
Lawmakers from al-Sadr's movement announced in a Baghdad press conference that a general strike campaign — which began in selected neighborhoods of the capital and included the closure of businesses and schools — was being expanded nationwide.
Three police officers were kidnapped from a checkpoint in eastern Baghdad, a police official said on condition on anonymity because he wasn't supposed to release the information.
Stores and schools also were closed in several other predominantly Shiite neighborhoods in the capital, and armed Mahdi Army members were seen patrolling the streets in some Shiite neighborhoods of the capital.
In Basra, Iraqi soldiers and police battled Mahdi fighters for control of key neighborhoods in Iraq's second-largest city, 340 miles southeast of Baghdad. The fighting erupted a
day after al-Maliki flew there and announced the security crackdown against the militias.
AP Television Newsvideo showed smoke from explosions rising over the city and Iraqi soldiers exchanging gunfire with militia members.
Basra accounts for most of Iraq's oil exports, but an oil ministry official, declining to be identified because he wasn't supposed to publicly discuss the sensitive issue, said production and exports had not been affected by the fighting.
Curfews were also imposed in the Shiite cities of Kut, where a large number of Mahdi Army gunmen were seen deploying on the streets, and Nasiriyah.
In Baghdad, suspected Mahdi Army gunmen exchanged gunfire
with security guards of the rival Shiite Supreme Islamic Iraqi Council in Sadr City, police said.
The rising tension led many people in Shiite neighborhoods to stay at home rather than venture into contested streets.
Athra Ali, 27, a government employee who lives in the Hurryiah neighborhood, said she decided not to go to work after seeing many shops closed and streets abandoned
A university lecturer at Baghdad's Mustansiriyah University also said the institution had closed early and sent students home.
Security in Basra had been steadily declining well before the British handed over responsibility for security to the Iraqis on Dec. 16.
Col. Karim al-Zaidi, spokesman
for the Iraq military, said security forces were encountering stiff resistance from Mahdi Army gunmen in the city.
The U.S. military said Tuesday that five suspected militants were killed in Basra while attempting to place a roadside bomb. Ten others were injured after being spotted conducting suspicious activity, the statement said.
British troops remained at their base at the airport outside Basra and were not involved in the ground fighting Tuesday, according to the British Ministry of Defense.
But three British jets provided aerial surveillance for the Iraqi forces, said Maj. Torn Holloway, a military spokesman in Basra.
He said the British jets have not
dropped any bombs because the Iraqi forces "haven't yet asked."
U. S. officials have insisted they are not going after Sadrists who respect the cease-fire. Instead, the Americans are targeting rogue elements, known as "special groups," that the military believes have ties to Iran. Tehran denies that it is fueling the violence.
The U.S. military blamed Iranian-backed Shiite militia factions for a spate of rocket attacks that struck the Green Zone and surrounding areas on Monday.
The Sadrists allege that rival militia factions have infiltrated the security forces and are targeting the movement to gain advantage in elections expected this fall.
POLITICS
Detroit mayor pleads not guilty to affair Kilpatrick said he does not plan to resign from the job despite these charges
ASSOCIATED PRESS
DETROIT — Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick and his former top aide pleaded not guilty Tuesday to charges they lied under oath about
having an affair.
The mayor and former Chief of Staff Christine Beatty appeared for separate hearings in the scandal that is threatening to prematurely end Kilpatrick's second term.
District Court Magistrate Steve
Lockhart entered not guilty pleas for each of them on charges of perjury, conspiracy, obstruction of justice and misconduct in office. Both were released on personal bonds.
The two are accused of lying under oath about an affair and their roles in the hiring of a top police official. Text messages first reported by the Detroit Free Press revealed a flirty, sometimes explicit, dialogue between the two.
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ASSOCIATED PRESS
In setting the mayor's personal bond, Lockhart noted defendants generally are restricted to the state of Michigan while their cases are pending. However, given Kilpatrick's position, Lockhart granted him the right to travel anywhere within the United States without prior permission, but said Kilpatrick still must give advance notice to the court.
Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy announced the charges on Monday after an investigation that began in late January after the Detroit Free Press published excerpts from 14,000 text messages that were sent or received in 2002-03 from Beatty's city-issued pager.
Attorney for Kilpatrick and Beatty have said their clients will be exonerated.
The messages called into question testimony Kilpatrick and Beatty gave last August in a lawsuit filed by two police officers who said they were fired for investigating claims that the mayor used his security unit to cover up extra-marital affairs.
In court, Kilpatrick and Beatty
strongly denied having an intimate relationship. But the steamy text messages revealed a dialogue about where to meet and how to conceal their trysts.
Kilpatrick, 37, is married with three children. Beatty, also 37, was married at the time and has two children.
The city eventually agreed to pay $8.4 million to the two officers and a third former officer. Some of the charges brought against the mayor accuse him of agreeing to the settlement in an effort to keep the text messages from becoming public.
"I'm madly in love with you." Kilpatrick wrote on Oct. 3, 2002.
On Oct. 16, 2002, Kilpatrick wrote: "I've been dreaming all day about having you all to myself for 3 days. Relaxing, laughing, talking, sleeping and making love."
"I hope you feel that way for a long time," Beatty replied. "In case you haven't noticed, I am madly in love with you, too!"
All of the charges against the mayor are felonies. Under the city charter, a felony conviction would mean the mayor's immediate expulsion.
A booking photo released by the Wayne County Sheriff's Department Monday shows Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick. Kilpatrick was charged with perjury and other offenses Monday — and got a stern lecture about the importance of telling the truth
— after a trove of raunchy text messages contradicted his sworn denials of an affair with his chief aide.
Kilpatrick has said he will not resign, and his attorney, Dan Webb, said forcing him to step down now would punish the mayor before he has had his day in court.
IN BRIEF
IN BRIEF Death toll in Iraq passes 4,000 mark after 5 years
As of Tuesday, March 25, 2008 at least 4,001 members of the U.S. military have died since the beginning of the Iraq war in March 2003, according to an Associated Press count. The figure includes eight military civilians. At least 3,257 died as a result of
hostile action, according to the military's numbers.
The AP count is five more than the Defense Department's tally, last updated Tuesday at 10 a.m. EDT.
The British military has reported 175 deaths; Italy, 33; Ukraine, 18; Poland, 21; Bulgaria, 13; Spain, 11; Denmark, seven; El Salvador, five; Slovakia, four; Latvia, three; Estonia, Netherlands, Thailand, Romania, two each; and Australia, Hungary, Kazakhstan, South Korea, one death each.
Since the start of U.S. military operations in Iraq, 29,496 U.S. service members have been wounded in hostile action, according to the Defense Department's weekly tally.
Associated Press